I’ve been unabashedly reveling in every morning where we evade the chill for one more day, where I can ride my bike to work in a skirt and short sleeve shirt, where I can sit on the porch after dinner and not feel that mercury drop and the gooseflesh form. But hey — all that stopped early this week, with a final burst of indian summer and the subsequent autumn arrival. Time for scarves and cider and music that makes me feel thoughtful, wistful, warm.

Once the inspiration hit, this mix was almost harder than the summer mix I made. Summer mixes are all about toe-tapping fun and driving around with the windows down, singing along at full volume. In examining my iTunes library, I realized that perhaps I am drawn intrinsically, year-round to this sort of autumnal music, those songs with heft and subtle strength and acoustic coziness, maybe of the hippie beards-and-sweaters variety.

As much as I love the hot days of summer, I do look forward to the quiet introspection of fall.

AUTUMN LEAVES, AUTUMN STAYS: THE FUEL/FRIENDS FALL 2010 MIX

One Of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later) – Bob Dylan
Because, for me, there’s no other artist that evokes autumn for me as thoroughly and immediately as Dylan. The organ crescendo in this song feels like an October carnival, exploding with caramel apples and the smell of leaves burning.

Slow Dance – Coco et Co.
This duo from Montreal has woven together a rich and gorgeous album, the sparse iciness of melody here anchored by the warm Springsteenesque timbre of Andrew Sisk and the interwoven frost of Miranda Durka. It’s autumn and winter in one song. You can get their album here for $5.

Down In The Valley – The Head And The Heart
I cannot say enough good things about these guys. This song from their self-titled debut (easily one of my favorites of the year) is steeped in referential nods to all sorts of old, good country songs and emanates a road-weary ennui. The violin also breaks my heart. I’m presenting their Nov 5th show in Denver: stay tuned for a ticket giveaway next week!

All Through Montana – John Craigie
Remember that warm seeping feeling in your chest when you first listened to the magnificent slow burn of “Orange Sky“? This song (from San Francisco songwriter John Craigie) infuses a distinctly Western-landscape haze into that sensation. I love this song.

Bare Bones and Branches – Lewis & Clarke
One original review of this album in ’03 called it “the perfect autumnal album.” I agree.

Sold – Dan Mangan
This gorgeous, smart album and Dan’s oaky, warm voice have been a major part of my last few months and I don’t plan to stop.

The Void – Jay Farrar & Ben Gibbard
This atmospheric song from the Kerouac-inspired ode from Gibbard and Farrar makes me taste fog and smell pine trees on the California coast.

Sin-Eaters (b-side) – The National
A tremendous b-side from the expanded version of High Violet (coming next month), all tension and velvet. This feels to me like a preface to the sadness of “Runaway.”

Si, Paloma – Sun Kil Moon
A reader suggested this intricate instrumental as the perfect fall song and I concur.

Burning Stars – Mimicking Birds
This Portland trio crafts lo-fi, compelling music that I love. Fittingly recorded in a bedroom, as a home demo.

Transformation (live at eTown) – David Gray
David Gray has always felt like an October artist to me (or maybe January, but that’s another mix altogether). This melancholy piano song is fitting for this time of year when everything is being transformed by the chill.

Passing Afternoon – Iron & Wine
“Autumn blew the quilt right off the perfect bed she made / And she’s chosen to believe in the hymns her mother sings / Sunday pulls its children from their piles of fallen leaves.” Autumn isn’t autumn without Iron & Wine, yes?

Paint a Face – Neil Halstead
An acoustic folk album full of slow-reveal hues from this former Slowdive frontman, this was one of my favorites of 2008 and I always pull it out when the leaves start to change.

Helpless (live) – Neil Young
“There is a town in north Ontario”…. sweet jesus, talk about the high and lonesome sound — I think that tinkling piano with the piercing lone harmonica together at around 3:00 on this live version just about does me in for good. “Blue, blue windows behind the stars, yellow moon on the rise / Big birds flying across the sky, throwing shadows on our eyes….”

Storm Window (John Prine) – Josh Ritter
Folk perfection, the musical marriage of these two. “I can hear the wheels of the automobiles so far away, just moving along through the drifting snow / It’s times like these when the temperatures freeze, I sit alone just looking at the world through a storm window.” [bonus]

Is it sad that this just made my weekend? I can’t wait to dig into the artists unbeknownst to me and am so excited to hear the Blind Pilot and The National rarities, I’m gonna go buy me some cider right now. About half the bands I never heard of in your summer mix made it into my regular rotation.

Great mix, filled with songs I know and love, songs by artists I know and love, and new tunes and artists to explore. Thanks so much. FWIW, there was a “title track” out there that might have worked well, Rickie Lee Jones’ “Autumn Leaves.”

[...] I appreciate mp3 blogs that make an effort to keep the mixtape alive. Any old blog can post a song or two each day that shows up in their inbox, or that they found on Hype Machine, but it takes legitimate effort to craft a mix, paying attention to order and mood. So here’s a fall mix from I am Fuel, You are Friends. [...]

Absolutely fantastic mix. ‘We are the Tide’ has been a favorite of mine since you posted it last year (granted it wasn’t very high quality, but the elements are there where you just know it’s a killer song). Also, just saw Sam Beam (with Rosie Thomas backing along with his friend Rob) last week in Iowa City and you’re right, there really is nothing better than Iron and Wine in the fall (and judging by the few new songs he played, his new album is going to be gorgeous). Thanks again for this, it’s great (and glad I could contribute a little bit).

Did you know the wife, baby, and I are heading to Portland for a fall roadie next week? Nice timing! Thanks for the soundtrack to our trip. I can’t begin to tell you how much I appreciate your blog and the great music that comes with it. In return for your generosity, I’ll root for your Giants to win the World Series this year

I awoke today and found the frost perched on the town
It hovered in a frozen sky, then it gobbled summer down
When the sun turns traitor cold
And shivering trees are standing in a naked row
I get the urge for going but I never seem to go

I get the urge for going
When the meadow grass is turning brown
Summertime is falling down and winter is closing in

I had me a man in summertime
He had summer-colored skin
And not another girl in town
My darling’s heart could win
But when the leaves fell trembling down
Bully winds did rub their faces in the snow
He got the urge for going And I had to let him go

He got the urge for going
When the meadow grass was turning brown
Summertime was falling down and winter was closing in

The warriors of winter they gave a cold triumphant shout
And all that stays is dying and all that lives is getting out
See the geese in chevron flight flapping and racing on before the snow
They’ve got the urge for going, they’ve got the wings to go

They get the urge for going
When the meadow grass is turning brown
Summertime is falling down and winter is closing in

I’ll ply the fire with kindling and pull the blankets to my chin
And I’ll lock the vagrant winter out and bolt my wandering in
I’d like to call back summertime and have her stay jut another month or so
She’s got the urge for going and I guess she’ll have to go

And she get the urge for going when meadow grass is turning brown
All her empires are falling down
Winter’s closing in

[...] to my attention these past few days. Heather over at I Am Fuel, You Are Friends has a 20+ track Autumn Leaves, Autumn Stays mix available, and Motel De Moka also offers up Hello Autumn! for your listening [...]

GREAT GREAT job again. The Josh Ritter inclusion, especially! I’ve been listening to the Jeffrey Foucault cover of this song a lot lately, and had totally forgotten about this cover! Here’s hoping the storm windows stay up for another couple of weeks.

Very lovely mix. Based on your selections I think you would really like Matthew and the Atlas. I would start with the song I Will Remain. I fell in love with it after one listen and I think you might too.

Fall is absolutely my favorite season. Something about the leaves changing and falling, the air and the chill, and of course, football, does something to me inside. Only just recently did I realize how well the Avett Brothers go with this season. The slow version of “November Blue” is one of my favorites. Genius props to you for including it!

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About Me

Name: Heather BrowneLocation: Colorado, originally by way of CaliforniaGiving context to the torrent since 2005.

"I love the relationship that anyone has with music: because there's something in us that is beyond the reach of words, something that eludes and defies our best attempts to spit it out. It's the best part of us, probably, the richest and strangest part..."
—Nick Hornby, Songbook

"Music has always been a matter of energy to me, a question of Fuel. Sentimental people call it Inspiration, but what they really mean is Fuel."—Hunter S. Thompson

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Mp3s are for sampling purposes, kinda like when they give you the cheese cube at Costco, knowing that you'll often go home with having bought the whole 7 lb. spiced Brie log. They are left up for a limited time. If you LIKE the music, go and support these artists, buy their schwag, go to their concerts, purchase their CDs/records and tell all your friends. Rock on.

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